No-Snow Day

Every year since Eli and Maddux have started school, we've had at least one snow or ice day, usually in January. The past few years, the county has definitely been quick to cancel school if there is a real threat of the snow coming on too quickly during school hours. (Thanks, Snowmageddon 2014!) In those same years, Lehr has kept a close eye on the forecast just northeast of us so that he can take the kids for a quick ski day in North Carolina. This year, the two events lined up together.

A snowstorm (an Atlanta snowstorm) was due to hit us yesterday around 10AM, providing a few hours of snow followed by about 24 hours of below freezing temperatures. We all predicted the day off of school for today (due to all of the snow being frozen on the roads), but it was anyone's guess what they would do about the day the snow was actually coming. Out of an 'abundance of caution' (the most common words used to describe their snow decisions in the last few years), Cobb decided at noon on Monday to cancel school for Tuesday. So Lehr decided to pack up the kids and their snow gear after Maddux's basketball game and head out before the snow hit the roads. Because he's the amazing dad he is, he invited 4 other kids to go with them. Two of the kids went (one friend each for Eli and Maddux). They had a great time, piling into a motel room for about seven hours of sleep before carbing up with a pancake breakfast. They skiied all day, enjoying awesome fluffy snow continuously refreshing the trails for them. After grabbing some dinner, they drove back to Atlanta.

Ruby and I stayed here and enjoyed about 90-seconds of a flurry in the sky, followed by sun and very mild temperatures (maybe 42?). The kids all returned to school today.

Wrestling Championship

Eli's introductory season of wrestling culminated in a Metro 10 Championship yesterday. He ended up wrestling four (or five?) times, and it was pretty much the perfect end for Eli.

All season long, he's been learning new moves, but had only had one win (meaning he scored more points than his opponent and didn't get pinned before the time ran out). But on Saturday, Eli's extra practices over the holiday break proved to be that extra push he needed. His first match was a bye, so it was mid-morning before he finally got on the mat. The opponent was a good wrestler, and held his points higher than Eli throughout, but Eli stayed mentally in the game and didn't get pinned until the final 10 seconds. (There are three rounds, totaling four minutes: 2 min, 1 min, 1 min. It is exhausting.)

This is when I knew something was different. Those rounds were tough; Eli was in a choke hold a lot and he had his shoulder in a less-than-great position a lot. A LOT. (Immediately afterward he told me he seriously worried it was out of socket.) This scenario is one that typically results in Eli anger (out of frustration and pain, no doubt) and some playing the victim. Eli didn't do that. During the match he visibly listened to his coaches instructions. Afterward, he pulled himself together pretty quickly and immediately went to cheer on his teammates. That's another thing that was new. Eli is definitely one to clap for or feel happy for his friends, but he was actively seeking their matches out and loudly cheering them individually in a way I've not seen him do before. Already, my day was made.

Then Eli had a match to determine if he would advance to the top four. My phone was dead, so I have NO video to show, but Eli pinned his man. He PINNED him! He was so excited. I was so excited....it was amazing! From there, he wrestled for 3rd place and won....it was a long match that went down to points (so the full four minutes), but Eli had the points, so he won! Here's where it got even more interesting - since he'd not yet wrestled the guy who was in 2nd place, Eli could challenge him to take his position. This was a kid Eli had wrestled once or twice through the season already, and the two of them chatted it up off the mat, so I already had the warm and fuzzies. (Eli is a little too adversarial for my taste sometimes.) They had a great match, and Eli came out on top, having pinned him. And when I asked him to offer the kid an additional handshake and word of encouragement after all was said and done, he didn't fight me at all.

Seriously. The humility. The joy of competing. The team-player attitude. The determination. There was such a shift in him, in such a positive way, yesterday, and it was so awesome to see. I can't even complain about being at the gym for twelve hours (630-630) because it gave me the best front-row seat ever. And for him to be rewarded with the wins and the pins...icing on the cake. Eli and another team mate both ended up with some hardware for finishing 2nd in their weight classes, and the team had a tremendous showing, especially for this being the school's first full season of wrestling.

Maddux's Heart for Service

I honestly wonder how many times I've blogged about this... I do know that whatever the number, it pales in comparison to the amount of times I take note of it, which is likely a fraction of the number of examples in each day. I know this sounds braggy, but for the oh so many times I get it wrong, especially with Maddux, by pointing out the ways she doesn't do what I think she should do with her time and energy, I want to be sure and document how much right I see in her heart.

I have to remind myself that what I think I want for her might not line up with what God has planned for her.

My girl...she loves, she loves kids, she loves serving kids. Since leaving Kids' Ministry, as a participant, last May, she has probably only attending the 'big' service with us 2 or 3 times, one of those being the Sunday that she was baptized. Every week she volunteers in the Preschool Ministry, willingly. She is now a volunteer that gets signed up about once/month, but whether signed up or not, Maddux reports to the coordinator when we arrive each Sunday and she has never been turned away.

It's not just that she volunteers though. Anyone can do that...even I even do that. But my heart is not in it even half as much as Maddux's is. She loves working with those kids, and not just the fun parts. She will crawl on the ground to pick up goldfish, usher kids to the restroom, pick up mini crayon bits off of the table again and again and again...none of it phases her. I've seen her patiently cutting out a craft for the kids, while carrying on a conversation with one kid to her side, while another sits on her lap, hugging her for comfort. All the while, she is calm as a cucumber and so in her element. And she seeks out the ones who need the most, whether it's manifesting in tears or acting out, she's usually right on it.
I want to be her when I grow up.

About once a month I am approached by an adult at church that works with her for the first time, or maybe just talks to me about it for the first time, and they 'just have to tell' me how awesome she is or what a good worker she is or how great she is with the kids. Sometimes they'll ask me what I did to help her be so great. This is the part where I seriously laugh out loud because I had nothing to do with it. Seriously - she is the nurturer I never was (even at my best). This is all God, growing her gift for nurturing and serving, and it brings me so so SO much joy to be able to watch.